Questions regarding taming new Syrian Hamster

[Inca]

Hello Hamster Central,

I'm new in this forum. Nice to meet you all! Almost 2 weeks ago I got a Syrian hamster. I let him settle in for the first week, as I saw that being recommended a lot on the internet. I did sit next to his cage and talked to him softly to make him get used to my voice.

After the first week, I started trying to get my hamster to eat treats from my hand. As expected, he didn't immediately go for it, but after a day or 2, he finally did take sunflowers seeds from between my fingertips. I practiced this a lot with him as I was excited that he seemed to warm up to me. That day he took every sunflower seed I sent his way from my fingers.

The day after however, he didn't want to take treats from my hand anymore. I did the exact same thing with the exact same treat, a sunflower seed. Every time I try to give him a sunflower seed he sniffs my hand and then jerks back slightly every single time. He does, however, take the sunflower seed when I lay it down in his bedding, so it's not as if he doesn't want the treat.

I really don't know why he's suddenly more reluctant than before when I really haven't scared him or betrayed his trust in any way. It's very demotivating for me, as I thought I was making progress in getting him to trust me.

I should add that until now I haven't washed my hands with soap while trying to feed him until now, I've just washed my hands with water and nothing else before trying to interact with him. Could it be that he doesn't recognize my smell or something?

Is this normal behavior for hamsters? Is there something I'm overlooking? Or am I jumping the gun too quickly? I'd really like to make progress in getting my hamster to trust me and I'm afraid that if I do it wrong now it'll only get more difficult as time goes on

Really hope anyone here can help me! Thanks in advance

[cypher]

Hi & welcome to the forum
All hams are different & some take longer to tame than others & often it's not about doing something right or wrong but just finding what works for your ham so don't worry, you will get there with time & patience!
I would suggest trying to vary the treats you offer, maybe try other seeds like pumpkin or smaller seeds like hemp or flax (linseed) so he can't just take one & run! Also small pieces of nut or veg will be appreciated too, keep it interesting for him, if he has a nice stash of sunflower seeds already there isn't a lot to motivate him really.
Are you just doing this in the cage or out of the cage?
Some hams aren't too keen on hands in their cage & it can be easier to get them used to interacting out of the cage in a safe play area, playpen or the bath with a towel in the bottom (plug in!) provide toys, things to explore & a wheel to run off any stress & just gradually begin to introduce your hands & let him get used to you that way beginning with short sessions & build up the time as he gains confidence.

[Inca]

Hello Cypher, thanks for answering

Yeah, I've been doing this inside of his cage until now. I did try to get him out for some playtime outside of the cage yesterday in a different cardboard box, but he was extremely focused on climbing out of the box and getting away in general. I had the feeling he didn't enjoy it at all in the box so I put him back rather quickly.

From what I've seen from him today it's even worse than before. I think yesterdays time outside of the cage might've made him even more scared of me. He did, however, take a yogurt drop and a small slice of banana from out of my fingertips. He is still the same with sunflower seeds, he smells them and then moves on.

I think I'll definitely try to get him into my bathtub in the coming days, we have quite a large tub and he should feel much less trapped than in the cardboard box. I really hope he turns better though, it feels as if I'm moving backward from where I was!

Thanks for the response once again, I really appreciate it! (His name is Fuji btw!)

[cypher]

They can seem to get a bit nervous at first when you try out of cage taming, the bath probably will be better than a box though, just keep the sessions short & maybe begin doing it once every two or three days until he's a bit more used to it & give him plenty of things to explore while in there.
It's good that he's taken some more treats from you though, it obviously hasn't knocked his confidence that much! There is often a bit of a novelty factor with new treats or foods so keep trying to surprise him with something a bit different, even something like a little bit of broccoli or carrot can be a real treat to them.

[Inca]

Thanks for all the suggestions! I'll definitely try them out